Donald Trump is talking about Hillary Clinton’s health as are two doctors who have never evaluated Clinton. They have apparently diagnosed her with all kinds of ailments using the long disproven Fox-Drudge equation.
This attention on Clinton has renewed some interest in the letter Donald Trump released last year from his personal physician.
Many outlets have picked it apart, but I want to tell you as a doctor exactly how bad it is. I would never write anything this terrible for a Jury Duty excuse or a back to work note, never mind something that half the country (and possibly half the world) might see or could possibly end up one day in a Presidential Library!
There are so many issues with the letter I’m going to just start at the beginning:
- The header has a non working web address and doctors’ don’t include e-mail addresses in letters.
It is incredibly rare for doctors to include an e-mail address in this kind of correspondence because we don’t want the person receiving the letter (e.g. the entire press corps or the place of work or the disability insurance company) to e-mail back with questions about our patient’s health. This could lead to a HIPAA (privacy) violation. Also, gmail is not a secure method of communication, so most doctors don’t want to use it for medical information. We doctors also don’t put our e-mail address in letters because we don’t want patients using unsecured methods of contact. I’m happy to have my patients e-mail me, they just need to do it through our secure server. The e-mail address is really odd, but then again it could be a fancy concierge doctor thing.
Except a fancy concierge doctor would probably have a working website. Really, you’re writing a letter for someone who wants to be President and this is what we get at http://www.haroldbornsteinmd.com, a weird website with a name and links to other services?
2. Lenox Hill has a Division of Gastroenterology not a Section and Dr. Bornstein isn’t listed on the website as a member.
Dr. Bornstein is affiliated with Lenox Hill, but he is not part of their Division of Gastroenterology. There also isn’t a Department of Medicine there is a Division of General Internal Medicine and Dr. Bornstein isn’t a member of that either. Having admitting privileges and being a division member are not the same thing. Many hospitals allow doctors to have admitting privileges and not be department or division members. And what’s with this made up Section?
It is also very odd for a doctor in a private practice to use their admitting privileges address under their signature if it is not the same as their practice address.
3. The letter starts with a typo.
I’m the typo queen so I’m not really one to judge, but if a patient of mine were running for President and needed a letter I’d make damn sure it was typo free.
4. No doctor describes tests as “only positive results” or “astonishingly excellent.”
“Only positive results” is gibberish. Some tests are good if they are positive and some are bad if they are positive. Some results are just not binary. For example a hemoglobin (blood count) is a number and not positive or negative.
What are “astonishingly excellent” laboratory test results? I’m a doctor and I don’t know. Is it astonishing that a 70 year old man has normal results? Are his results all exactly average which is good – but wait, I thought his tests are all positive?
And while we’re at it doctors just don’t say “laboratory test results” that sounds like something on a soap opera.
5. Doctors don’t say “test score” we just give the results
The conventional way to reference PSA would be PSA 0.81 ng/ml (normal < 4 ng/ml). A test score is something that happens at the DMV.
6. How did Dr. Bornstein test Donald Trump’s strength and stamina?
Did he have him bench press in the office? Do a treadmill test? Doctor’s just don’t typically write vague, quasi-medical things in letters. I’ve also never heard of a stamina test.
An internist might test muscle strength as part of a physical exam, but the results are graded 0-5 and 5 is not secret code for extraordinary it’s code for normal.
7. “The healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”
Every news site has pointed out how ridiculous this is. Dr. Bornstein is not a medical historian who runs a Presidential health archives and obviously Washington and Lincoln never had their PSA checked for comparison. The first blood pressure cuff was invented in 1881, so yeah.
8. There is no useful health information.
Someone with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s could have a normal blood pressure, normal PSA, take 81 mg aspirin and be on a “low dose” (we don’t know the exact dose or type) statin. So could someone with diabetes or someone who had a heart stent placed last year or who had a stroke four years ago.
Things I don’t find concerning
That Dr. Bornstein is a gastroenterologist. Often when internal medicine specialists start out they accept both general medicine and specialty patients. As the years go by they stop accepting general patients, but often hang on to a few favorites or high-profile patients. It’s done less now, but in the 70s and 80s it was more common. Bornstein may very well have been seeing Trump in that capacity. But yes, a healthy man would not need to see a gastroenterologist until the age of 50.
Newsweek pointed out the letter was made on Microsoft Word, but the header on my work letters is generated in the same type as the letter. Sadly, many doctors don’t use lovely heavy bond paper with nice letterhead anymore. But you know when I would? If I were writing a letter for someone who is running for President.
The signature. I hit return a lot for my huge signature and still sometimes scrawl all over the address. Hey, I’m a doctor.
It’s a terrible letter.
Did Dr. Bornstein write it? If so he should be embarrassed. It’s medically illiterate and if he doesn’t know his website doesn’t work or if that he’s not in the Division of Gastroenterology that’s an issue.
Did Trump write it? He’ll never tell. It certainly reads like a letter written by someone with close to no knowledge of Dr. Bornstein’s practice or medicine.
All I can say is typos and weird links and mentions of non existent sections of gastroenterology and nonsensical medical information aside the letter provides essentially no medical information.
***
After this was posted someone mentioned that Dr. Jacob Bornstein died in 2010.
Was an old doctor’s letter used as a template with the person copying the letterhead not knowing or remembering that the elder Dr. Bornstein had passed away? Is this Dickensian six year old letterhead with the name of the deceased still at the top?
You have not said this in so many words, but I am thinking that this letter was fabricated.
I hope that I am incorrect, but given Trump’s history, I would no be surprised.
Posted by Michael Finfer, MD | August 16, 2016, 6:44 pmWell Dr Jacob’s obituary mentions a son named Harold who, according to the obituary, is a Doctor
Posted by kirienblog | August 16, 2016, 9:39 pmSure, but why would the dead elder doctor remain in the letterhead for the next half decade?
Posted by xinit00 | August 17, 2016, 5:00 amThat does not mean the letter is legitimate. It could have been cooked up by someone else and used an actual doctor’s name. For that matter, anyone can open a gmail account using any name.
I have been thinking about the PSA. Assuming that the result is in ng/dl, it is awfully low, sort of unexpected in a 70 year old man. It’s the sort of result that you see in someone whose prostate has been ablated, such as after radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Perhaps someone picked a very low number out of thin air thinking low is good and not realizing the possible implications. On the other hand, it is not impossible for a healthy man to have a PSA that low. It is interesting, though.
Posted by Michael Finfer, MD | August 17, 2016, 7:13 amThe obituary states that Jacob Bornsteins practice will continue under his name, and that he is survived by a son, Harold Bornstein, who is also indicated as a MD. The letter is consistent with the obituary. The letter is signed by Harold, who is not the one dead in 2010. Dr Gunter should be more careful with her writing.
There are plenty of other reasons to question the validity of the letter. Don’t add careless, unresearched accusations, which can only detract from the validity of the original argument.
Posted by Finn Nielsen | August 18, 2016, 12:28 pmOh, it was totally fabricated. If you go to this page, http://www.whois.com/whois/haroldbornsteinmd.com, you’ll find the following information:
Updated Date: 03-may-2016
Creation Date: 07-apr-2016
Expiration Date: 07-apr-2017
What this means is that the doctor’s fine domain wasn’t even around in 2015. It was created in April of 2016, and the letter was probably produced after that. Also, if you read some of those words, you’ll notice it’s very Trumponian. He occasionally uses fancy words mixed in with his staccato of short, monosyllabic words and vague ideas.
Posted by Rebecca M | August 17, 2016, 8:53 amDomains can expire and be re-registered. If you check domainhistory.net, you’ll see that the domain was first registered in 2009, expired some time after its fifth anniversary, and was then re-registered by a spammer on April 7th, 2016.
http://www.domainhistory.net/haroldbornsteinmd.com
You can also confirm that the domain was working fine (albeit, it had a hopelessly amateurish and minimally-informative website on it) as of just 18 days after the letter was dated, per archive.org:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151222104028/http://haroldbornsteinmd.com/
The website is a red herring; there are any number of reasons the doctor could have chosen not to renew it, and he can hardly go back and remove it from letters sent before he canceled the domain.😉
There are plenty of other reasons for concern about the letter, though. The fact that this one was a non-story doesn’t change that.
Posted by Arno Neemers | August 17, 2016, 10:23 amRebecca, your report from Whois is correct, but your extrapolation the site didn’t previously exist is incorrect.
web.archive.org (AKA the Wayback Machine) is an archive of snapshots of websites over the years. One can easily inspect what haroldbornsteinmd.com looked like on any given date a snapshot was taken. It appears the domain name was created sometime in 2011 and a real site went live in 2013. That site lasted until mid-2015 (near the end the CSS did not work properly), and then ceased to be active late 2015 as the domain name expired.
Posted by dmittlem | August 17, 2016, 1:23 pmAlso, if you look at the site via the web archive, you can see that he claims to have The Joint Commission approval, yet the site of this commission does not know a Doctor Bornstein. May be useful for the author to look into.
Posted by Decimae | August 17, 2016, 2:14 pmThe page with the adverts on it is a fairly classic domain squatting page. Squatters grab the domain, but don’t actually put a site onto it. They park it and similar pages are presented when one tries to access that domain.
That way, they get ad hits from their presented ads and hit fees from the advertisers.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:37 amDr. Bornstein claims to have been treating Mr. Trump for 39 years, since 1980. His math skills are as bad as his writing skills.
Posted by Terry May | August 18, 2016, 12:35 pmHis signature also says FACG, meaning Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology.
I contacted them, he is not a Fellow, not ever a current member.
Dr. Bornstein used a false credential.
Posted by Nicholas Thompson | August 17, 2016, 12:52 pmNicholas, I did referencing in parallel to you. There is a search engine online to find an FACG in one’s area. It is at http://patients.gi.org/find-a-gastroenterologist/
gi.org is the American College of Gastroenterology site.
There is no Bornstein listed in New York City. The only Bornstein listed in the US as an FACG is a Jeffry Bornstein in Orlando. Even if Harold Bornstein retired, wouldn’t he still be listed? [Not sure of answer to this.]
Posted by dmittlem | August 17, 2016, 2:05 pmJust as a note, you should black-out the name / email address (everything except the domain) of the person you contacted at the ACG, to prevent them from receiving hateful troll-mail. I wish this weren’t the case but this year it is certainly going to happen.
Posted by Tuptop | August 18, 2016, 4:51 amSpot on, Dr Finfer!
Posted by P Stahlhut | August 17, 2016, 1:46 pmNot vary important cause Trump looks healthy and Hillary does not.
Posted by Noah Pen (@npina11) | August 17, 2016, 5:13 pmLooks can be deceiving – weren’t you EVER told that as a child ? Probably 90%+ of American children were; I know that I certainly was ?!?
Posted by scfp1952 | August 17, 2016, 10:42 pmI know, right. His hair looks real and Hilary’s just looks hilarious. Ban 🕋🏗Big wall
Posted by Bob Bench | August 18, 2016, 12:16 amThat’s OK, I most certainly appear healthier than Trump. I guess that I should be POTUS, as at least, I know what our Constitution says, I don’t accept or solicit members of foreign governments for contributions and have a substantially greater grasp of both policy and the use of the English language.
My overall health scores, when appropriately cherry picked, also would be superior to Trump’s. After all, I’m 20 years younger.
My HDL and LDL cholesterol likely is superior to his ratio, toward the healthy side. My hyperthyroidism forced that to be true. 😉
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:17 amI’ve been practicing medicine for nearly two decades. Outward appearances mean nothing.
Posted by DocPTG | August 18, 2016, 7:16 amI’m in my mid 50s, but most people who know me (but not my age) think I look like a healthy man in his 40s. The reality is that I have several health issues that are not obviously apparent, but put limits on a number of the things I can do. So, yes, looks can be very deceiving.
Posted by Jake A. | August 18, 2016, 5:09 pmAbsolutely!!
Posted by Deborah Lang | August 17, 2016, 6:32 pmI am a physician. I am Board Certified. I am on Faculty of a Medical school. I have 25 years experience. That letter is exactly the type of letter that is written to comment on someone’s health. It looks like Dr. Gunter is still young and still has a few things to learn about the practice of medicine. Best Wishes.
Posted by JonesMD | August 17, 2016, 9:18 pmI have 4 board certifications and too have 25 years experience as a physician. This letter is terrible.
Medical letters state facts and this reads like a letter that starts a romance novel at best.
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | August 18, 2016, 1:20 amYou still cannot Capitalize things Correctly. Oh man.
I literally LMAOed.
Doctors don’t write letters to “comment on someone’s health”. I imagine they give their professional opinions.
Posted by Lurky McLurkerface | August 18, 2016, 3:59 amHahaha, JonesMD, I’m pretty sure that your medical credentials are as much of a fabrication as this letter.
(Doctor with 16 years experience, also medical school faculty and Royal College credentialed.)
Posted by Dr. Mossman | August 18, 2016, 10:50 amI did a street view look at the address and could see no sign of a doctor’s office. Is there someone in NY who could check that too? My guess is that Trump’s PR man John Miller wrote it.
Posted by James Brown | August 18, 2016, 12:26 amDr. Harold B. is real and alive and currently licensed to practice medicine. His father has passed away.
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | August 18, 2016, 1:16 amWe need to question trump about this letter. Period. We all know he has the capability of writing his own letter. Unfortunately, we hold a very low bar for him and it’s sad we can think of him as doing such a despicable thing. But hey it’s trump what else should we think?
Posted by Tuan Bui | August 18, 2016, 1:29 amBut .. if this is a temporary fix, if his medical report is under audit?
Posted by joatic | August 18, 2016, 6:48 amIs there anything legitimate about Mr. Trump?
Posted by Charlie M. | August 16, 2016, 6:47 pmI think no
Posted by Deborah Lang | August 17, 2016, 6:39 pmThere is not anything legitimate about all of the fake posts and biased media reports about Trump for sure. I’m pretty sure most Americans know this though by now. Sigh…
Posted by jnjshelor | August 17, 2016, 8:56 pmActually, Trump’s undermined his own credibility via his own mouth and tweets for quite some time now.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:41 amHis assyness is totally legit.
Posted by Pemnylady | August 17, 2016, 10:53 pmAssyness! That is perhaps the most accurate description of Trump’s personality(disorder) I’ve read to date. “His assyness is totally legit.” You have succeeded in distilling the essence of this moron into five beautifully rendered words. Bravo!
Posted by chickiesgirl | August 18, 2016, 11:52 amAmbulance chaser?
Sent from my iPhone
>
Posted by Judith Vance | August 16, 2016, 6:54 pmOooo this is exciting haha
Posted by Mon ☠ | August 16, 2016, 6:58 pmConman gonna con.
Posted by Bob | August 16, 2016, 7:50 pmDr. Gunter, I’m *begging* you to fix the typo in your post title! “I’m a doctor these are the things I find concerning with Trump’s medical letter” – either add an “and” or make it 2 sentences. Other than that, good job
Posted by Laurie A. Duncan (@macsamurai) | August 16, 2016, 8:29 pmAs a non-doctor, what I find concerning with Trump’s letter is that you bothered to engage with it. It’s obviously meant to be understood as a fake.
Posted by Just An Australian | August 16, 2016, 9:22 pmAh , the #KatrinaMoment , ” Can’t you tell it’s partially sarcastic ? ” 😉
Posted by Jim | August 16, 2016, 11:04 pm“Wielding the Lasso of Truth”
“It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it”
Posted by Lurky McLurkerface | August 18, 2016, 4:19 amCorrect me if I’m wrong , but with his blood pressure being 110/65 , I would have thought that was on the low side . ( Normally *around* 135 ) .
Posted by Jim | August 16, 2016, 11:09 pmOk, I will: the “perfect” blood pressure is 120/80. 110/65 is a little low, but not alarmingly so.
Posted by Tyckmyckna | August 17, 2016, 2:42 amAverage BP is 120 over 80.
Posted by drbob8 | August 17, 2016, 5:18 pm“His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary.”
He lifted a bus once.
Yeah… It was really more of a… a push, really, than a lift.
Well, actually, the driver kinda had his foot on the accelerator… JUST in the beginning; just to get it going. Then it actually was him.
Posted by has | August 16, 2016, 11:33 pmI’m amazed that I would find a reference to Mystery Men here of all places.
Posted by D.E. | August 17, 2016, 6:31 amSounds like something creatively written by Meredith McIver, Melania’s speechwriter…
Posted by heatherclemenceau | August 16, 2016, 11:40 pmFake letter. Doesn’t deserve an analysis. That aside, good analysis. Hilarious in fact, if such a letter was indeed legit.
Posted by LG | August 17, 2016, 12:10 amWritten by his stunningly beautiful receptionist or a beauty pageant contestant. Probably the former, beauty pageant contestants want world peace.
Posted by DrAtticus | August 17, 2016, 3:17 amTrump could easily (and more likely) have written this letter himself. And by the way, Doc. about “concerning”:
>>> People commonly say of things that are a cause for concern that they are “concerning”: “My boyfriend’s affection for his pet rattlesnake is concerning.” This is not standard English. There are many better words that mean the same thing including “worrisome,” “troubling,” and “alarming.” <<<
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/concerning.html
Posted by Don | August 17, 2016, 5:07 amSamuel Johnson wanted “Standard English” to remain static forever, but alas he concluded language is, as always, in flux. Disregard pathetic concerns regarding word choice & style.
Posted by Amber Hudson Fend | August 17, 2016, 10:18 amGood, standard prose is confined to, and defined by, its era, or course. And sure, this one a matter of diction. The doctor’s choice is not a mistake so much as it is a careless and reflexive adoption of a nonstandard, vogue usage. That is, it’s an affectation, one that betrays her weak abilities as a writer–no big deal, except that, as a doctor who writes, she could use the tip.
Posted by Don | August 18, 2016, 5:42 pmYou do sound like a picky Internet English teacher but Mr Trump’s doctor does not sound at all like a doctor and writes in Trumpisms full of pointless superlatives. Does the legendary Trump U have a meducator school?
Posted by Bob Bench | August 18, 2016, 12:07 amIt does sound like something Trump would have written himself. “You know who’s got the best health? Me. I’ve got great health. I mean, just check out my test results. I’ve got the best test results ever. And these tests, look, I was tested for strength and stamina, I’ve got the best stamina.”
Posted by Todd W. | August 17, 2016, 5:22 am….believe me….
Posted by JayHG | August 17, 2016, 9:19 amHeh, I could reference my last stress test.
I had come home for another elective procedure, didn’t like one ECG strip, had primary schedule a cardiac workup.
One problem was, I only brought home my combat boots, I forgot to pack my sneakers. Running in combat boots on the treadmill was unique, nearly breaking the treadmill and not elevating my pulse, priceless. They had to go with a chemical stress test.
The odd result was due to a heat stroke that I had experienced the previous week.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:23 amHi Dr. Gunter, great piece. I’m an editor at the Huffington Post, and I think your piece could really resonate with our readers. Please let me know if you’re interested in re-posting this on our site under your byline. Hope to hear from you! hayley [dot] miller [at] huffingtonpost [dot] com.
Posted by Hayley Miller | August 17, 2016, 5:30 am“…doctors’ don’t include e-mail addresses in letters”
Nor do doctors put an apostrophe after “doctors”. WTF?
Anyway, a fine takedown.
Posted by Superalias | August 17, 2016, 5:43 amI said I was the typo Queen
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | August 17, 2016, 8:11 amI’m so curious about something … is this illegal? Actually that’s vague … let me try to be more specific .
If there was no actual doctor involved isnt forgery illegal? And if a doctor lent his credentials as well as the letterhead of Lennox Hill isn’t that illegal if the doctor is just stating whatever a patient wants him to say?
Posted by Deary Darling | August 17, 2016, 12:10 pmHeh, my queen! I’m known to type around 45 WPM or 70 MPM (Mistakes per minute), all using all ten thumbs.
Add in a healthy measure of dyslexia, which pops out to surprise one and all when I’m fatigued, yeah, things can get downright entertaining when I type something and am tired.
Indeed, if I have no sleep for three days, I can sound as bad as Trump.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:25 amNice picking. She still sounds like a doctor. Bronstein sounds like a Trump U graduate. Sounds like Mr Trump likes his doctors like he likes his accountants.
Posted by Bob Bench | August 18, 2016, 12:13 amIn this case, could MD stand for a chest-stumping “Me, Doctor”? This trumped up medical affidavit reminds me of that possibility.
Posted by Karl_ | August 17, 2016, 7:33 amthe wayback machine on that website is even more fishy
love to reach out to “R. Mann Consulting”
https://web.archive.org/web/20151222102018/http://www.haroldbornsteinmd.com/contact.html
Posted by Michael Wilga | August 17, 2016, 8:01 amFFS lol; have a gander at the good doctor’s pic on the ‘Credits’ page:
Posted by VaughnSC | August 17, 2016, 9:45 am> love to reach out to “R. Mann Consulting”
Here you go: http://www.yellowpages.com/new-rochelle-ny/mip/r-mann-consulting-469446132
Posted by Arno Neemers | August 17, 2016, 10:31 amNo mention Trump has never had a psychiatric assessment. Never had delusions. Never known how to lie. Never been treated for maladaptive behavior. Never had a clue.
Posted by Michelle | August 17, 2016, 8:13 amHe has no history of ever using medication for any reason at all.
Posted by Michelle | August 17, 2016, 8:16 amHis stamina and physical strength are extraordinary? Well how about he back that up by running a marathon or participating in a Spartan race? And also please televise this event for interested viewers. Because I would watch the HELL out of that.
Posted by Alexis | August 17, 2016, 9:12 amThis must be the work of Trump’s alter ego, “John Miller” (Doctor of Thinkology, among many other extraordinary excellent credentials).
Posted by Invisible Mikey | August 17, 2016, 9:29 amWhy do I suspect that somewhere in a windowless room in Trump Tower, some poor illegal immigrant is being forced to create equally bogus tax returns?
Posted by John Friedman (@JohnFriedman) | August 17, 2016, 10:35 amhahahahahaha
Posted by Deedee Mendoza | August 17, 2016, 3:49 pm1) Some doctors do include an email address, I would especially expect this of a concierge practice on park avenue. Their stock and trade isn’t especially good medicine (that can be found wherever an exceptionally good physician can) it’s in convenient delivery. Being able to reach him by e-mail (even if it is potentially a HIPPA violation) is convenient.
2) https://www.northwell.edu/find-care/locations/department-medicine-lenox-hill-hospital
Lenox hill definitely has a “Department of Medicine” though I cannot find any information on sections. Just because they aren’t on the website doesn’t mean that it’s part of how the hospital is organized internally.
https://www.northwell.edu/find-care/find-a-doctor/gastroenterology/dr-harold-n-bornstein-md-11356160
Bornstein is listed on their website however.
3) You would also expect Trump or his staff to catch the typo too. Typos happen. You can say “[If I were writing for a potential president I’d up my game]” but that doesn’t make it fish that he didn’t. Typos happen.
4) Agree, super fishy.
5) That would be the conventional way to write a medical note, but this is not a medical note.
6) He could have done an exercise stress test but he is probably relying on Donald’s own account. I ask patients if they exercise and how it goes for them, I expect he does too.
7) I think we can agree that Trump dictated most of this to him. That’s why he is talking nonsense about something he knows almost nothing about.
8) It contains little useful health information, there is a lot that it says nothing about.
Posted by Emerson White | August 17, 2016, 10:41 amThe very low PSA value suggests a low testosterone level. Surprised that something hasn’t been made of this.
Posted by Mike Conjalka, MD, MPH | August 17, 2016, 7:37 pmI heard someone wonder if it was due to Propecia, but the letter claimed only a statin
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | August 17, 2016, 11:44 pmYeah, mine was very low as well. So was my testosterone and lipid numbers.
In my case, BP was rather elevated, in the 200/100 range, pulse 128, FT3 and FT4 well over ten times what it should ever read.
Fully explaining all of the other odd numbers.
Fortunately, I have an excellent endocrinologist.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:30 amOops. It’s Lenox Hill Hospital in real life, as in the letter, but you spelled it Lennox Hill. But I’m quibbling. Good piece!
Posted by Ed | August 17, 2016, 11:02 amFirst saw this on HuffPost today. Liked the analysis very much. But, you lose credibility when you misspell “Lenox.” It’s glaring because you talk about “Lennox” immediately following the correct spelling (from the supposed website). It also undermines your valid point that the typo in the letter matters. I am admittedly a grammar and spelling geek, for the record . . . so just sayin’. Still, liked the article.
Posted by Robin | August 17, 2016, 12:34 pmWhat is the Fox-Drudge Equation you mention? I can’t find anything on it anywhere.
Posted by Chris | August 17, 2016, 2:10 pmThe letterhead is correct, it’s a business letterhead, and the business name is
“JACOB BORNSTEIN, M.D. HAROLD N. BORNSTEIN, M.D. P.C.”
“PC” stands for “Professional Corporation”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_corporation
There can be many reasons why a business doesn’t change it’s legal name so quickly.
You can look it up at
https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=346999&p_corpid=296501&p_entity_name=jacob%20bornstein&p_name_type=%25&p_search_type=BEGINS&p_srch_results_page=0
Posted by corp lawyer | August 17, 2016, 2:25 pmI don’t trust Trump for President because we don’t know how good or bad this country will get…Just keep praying that God work everything out because either way we still going to need prayer.
Posted by Linda | August 17, 2016, 2:49 pmWhat about his medical deferment for Vietnam? Seems like that would be important medical information if it gets you out of serving the country.
Posted by Elizabeth Earl | August 17, 2016, 3:36 pmIs this actually a letter put out by the Trump campaign? I cannot believe it is so… what’s the word… shoddy.
Yes, what about those bone spurs?
Is this the same outfit that signed off on the draft?
Posted by harrisco | August 18, 2016, 12:04 amI don’t believe it was dictated. I believe Bornstein signed a blank page considering where the signature is and someone (Trump) filled in the content… if indeed that is even Bornsteins signature! He should be reported to the NY State Health Dept. because clearly he didn’t write it. And if he did then he should be investigated for incompetance at the very least!!!
Posted by Deedee Mendoza | August 17, 2016, 3:43 pmback in 2000 GW Bush released his Dr statement comparing Bush’s heart rate to an Olympic athlete, true his heart rate was low, due to a bad heart not to being physically fit.
Posted by gerard | August 17, 2016, 4:55 pmThat’s odd, as being physically unfit typically raises heart rate. Complete heart block would leave one at the ventricular rate of 30 – 40 BPM.
That said, extremely fit individuals can have a resting pulse of around 50 BPM. I saw a lot of that in the military.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 5:58 amIf Mr. Trump is taking a low dose statin, then by definition, his lab reading are not normal. He has high chlosterol. Either that or he’s taking a drug with potentially serious side effects for no reason.
Posted by John Carlton | August 17, 2016, 5:57 pmIf he’s actually taking a statin, he’s quite fortunate. When my thyroid was operating normally, my cholesterol levels were quite elevated and I was prescribed various statins.
I’m one of those rare individuals who am utterly incapable of taking a statin, even a low dose, once per week will trigger rhabdo symptoms.
Once my thyroid is fully back to normal (or at least, the thyroid hormones are within the normal range for a reasonable period), I’ll have to get with doctor and find a different way of keeping my cholesterol numbers within a healthier range.
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 1:35 amCould this be Donald Trump’s doctor? Dr. uses the same prefix in the gmail for a twitter handle: https://twitter.com/hbornst1
Posted by anon | August 17, 2016, 7:44 pmYes, that is the same guy. Trump’s Doctor speaks Italian and the photo matches others on the Internet.
Posted by Danny | August 18, 2016, 5:48 amThe plural noun “doctors” doesn’t have an apostrophe either before or after the “s” — and this article has both.
Interesting medical information, but Typo Queen needs an editor.
Posted by Dave C. | August 17, 2016, 11:08 pmWhen typo Queen gets paid for what she writes she’ll have an editor.
Posted by Dr. Jen Gunter | August 18, 2016, 4:38 amHad a question. Is propecia still absorbed through skin and if so can or does it affect female hormones if they come into contact with it?
Posted by Lisa | August 18, 2016, 3:21 pmSomeone seems to have restyled this article. When it appeared in Huffington Post, “Lenox” is spelled “Lennox.” ….note to “typo queen.”
The message is important… Wouldn’t want your credibility called into question.
Thanks
Posted by Helene | August 18, 2016, 3:30 amNo big thing, but since you bring typos, it’s Lenox Hiill, it’s Lennox Hill.
Posted by Tom | August 18, 2016, 4:58 amAs someone who has many decades of formal education and experience as a writer and is trained in deconstructing and analyzing texts, you’d have to be living in lala land not to conclude that this letter is 100% fraudulent and, based on trump’s rhetorical style and use of language, was probably written by trump himself.
Dr Gunter thoroughly deconstructed the text in an objective way, which resulted glaring inconsistencies, bizarre narcissistic language & outright lies.
Posted by MDA | August 18, 2016, 5:28 amOne more thing to find ridiculous is there are absolutely no medical qualifications to be POTUS. In that regard the letter Hillary produced is medical nonsense as well. “She is in excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States.” Which is interesting as a medical opinion since there are no fitness or any other health criteria to evaluate for serving as POTUS.
Posted by john gury | August 18, 2016, 5:47 amHeh, could you picture such a testimonial letter regarding Grover Cleveland’s health?
ROFLMAO!
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 6:15 amTrump has a history of pretending to be a ‘Trump Spokesman’ named Baron when he presents glowing tributes of Trump to the press. It is interesting that the name of the doctor (Borenstein) is similar to the fictitious spokesman (Baron)
Posted by musicalsaw | August 18, 2016, 9:11 amDon’t click on the website! It’s MALWARE! RANSOMWARE!
Posted by Matthew Wright | August 18, 2016, 10:00 amWhat website are you referring to?
Posted by dmittlem | August 18, 2016, 10:08 amWhich website?
Posted by wzrd1 | August 18, 2016, 10:09 amWhere is the NY Medical Board in all this. Out of date stationary would be a very mild slap on the wrist Inaccurately listing the physician’s affiliations is slightly more serious. Making unsubstantiated claims like Trump being the most healthy President ever is getting into really serious. I could see a short term suspension of this guy’s license until he completes an ethics course. A New York resident should consider submitting a complaint to the medical board.
Posted by Robert Allison | August 18, 2016, 10:25 amSomething else interesting. The doctor claims to have been seeing Trump since 1980 and then talks about “over the past 39 years.” At best he could have seen him for 34-35 years…provided he was still alive in 2015.
Posted by Dave Taft | August 18, 2016, 10:47 amThe website did exist in Sept, 2013 per the Internet Archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20130914140558/http://haroldbornsteinmd.com/index.html
The prior two captures in 2011 don’t show anything, though at that time the title of the page was Bornstein & Bornstein, MDs.
Posted by Dave Taft | August 18, 2016, 10:57 amHas anyone noticed that the doctor said he has been treating Mr. Trump for 39 years, since1980. If the letter was written in 2015, that would be 35 years, not 39.
Posted by Terry May | August 18, 2016, 12:28 pmDon’t forget the math saying 1980 was 39 years ago. It was 36. Actually 35 at the time of the letter. I was born in that year so I caught that right away!
Posted by Elizabeth Burda | August 18, 2016, 3:20 pmHas. Dr. Born stein ( the living) come foward and identified the the as one he wrote?
Posted by Clay Brandow | August 18, 2016, 3:50 pmPlus, if you’re only going to report one test result, PSA is probably the weirdest possible choice. It’s essentially meaningless on its own and something most people don’t even test nowadays. That is, unless he’s recovering from prostate cancer, but apparently “he’s suffered no form of cancer.”
Posted by Jason | August 18, 2016, 10:06 pm